Toyota says it will achieve full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040 at the latest.
While speaking at Toyota Motor Europe’s annual event in Kenshiki, company executives stated the automaker is on target to achieve a 100 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions in all new vehicles sold in the European Union, UK, and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) by 2035.
Toyota will also make all of its European manufacturing facilities carbon neutral by 2030 by minimizing energy consumption wherever possible, switching to green energy and implementing a host of innovations to reduce CO2 or eliminate it entirely.
Unlike many of its rivals that are pursuing all-electric vehicle strategies, Toyota is pursuing a multi-technology strategy that “recognizes the complementary benefits of both battery-powered vehicles and those which run on hydrogen for zero emission mobility.” It added that it is best to use a combination of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions over the next 10-15 years due to the current short supply and high costs of battery materials, as well as the lack of adequate infrastructure.
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“We must do what is best for the environment, which is to extract the most carbon reduction from each battery cell produced, replacing as many non-electrified vehicles as possible with electrified ones, guided by the simple principle that carbon is the enemy, not a particular powertrain,” Toyota Motor Corporation chief scientist and Toyota Research Institute chief executive Dr. Gill Pratt said.
Toyota used the example of its site in Deeside in the UK of how it will achieve carbon neutrality at its European manufacturing facilities by 2030. The Deeside factory has been installed with solar panels equivalent to 10 football pitches and 90 per cent of its waste is used to generate green energy.
“Broadly speaking, there are two key focus areas: the first is carbon neutrality and how we plan to achieve it in areas of our business, and the second, as we transition for a manufacturing and sales company to a provider of mobility services, is the future of mobility,” added president and chief executive of Toyota Motor Europe, Matt Harrison.
